By Steve Wittich

Rinus van Kalmthout (VeeKay) and Oliver Askew can’t seem to get away from each other. The Juncos Racing rookie Veekay was the quickest, but by a slim 0.0486 seconds over fellow rookie Askew.

VeeKay’s quickest lap, his 17th of the 25 he completed in the session was timed at 72.136 seconds.

The top five drivers were all within a half-second of VeeKay, and all nine entries were covered by a second.

The third-straight Road To Indy practice session, a 45-minute Indy Lights practice, began promptly at 10:20 am.

Early in the session, it was Juncos Racing veteran Kellett that led the way, but by the half-way point, he had been superseded at the top of the timing screens by his teammate VeeKay. The remainder of the top five at that point were: Askew, Kellett, Robert Megennis and Ryan Norman.

With 15-minutes left in the session, the red flag was unfurled from the flag stand on the front straight. The No. 5 Belko Trading/Kohltrade/IVI Vision piloted by Lucas Kohl ended up stuck in the gravel in “China Beach.” The AMR INDYCAR Safety Team was able to get him back on the pavement, and the Brazilian was able to drive back to pit road.

The green flag came out with nine-minutes remaining, and all nine drivers took to the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Mid-Ohio Road Course in an attempt to go quicker. The only driver to accomplish that was David Malukas, who ended the session with the fourth quickest time.

The nine drivers were able to complete 207 laps. Kellett turned 27 laps, the most of any drivers.

Cooper Tires Indy Lights Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio Practice #1 Results

RANK CAR. NO DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE TOTAL LAPS
1 21 Rinus VeeKay Juncos Racing 1:12.136 –.—- 25
2 28 Oliver Askew Andretti Autosport 1:12.184 0.0486 25
3 67 Dalton Kellett Juncos Racing 1:12.448 0.3121 27
4 79 David Malukas BN Racing 1:12.594 0.4580 24
5 27 Robert Megennis Andretti Autosport 1:12.597 0.4609 24
6 48 Ryan Norman Andretti Autosport 1:12.744 0.6081 23
7 4 Aaron Telitz Belardi Auto Racing 1:12.976 0.8404 18
8 2 Toby Sowery BN Racing/Team Pelfrey 1:13.020 0.8841 20
9 5 Lucas Kohl Belardi Auto Racing 1:13.226 1.0900 21

The top rung of the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires qualify at 2:30 pm this afternoon.